Africa

During the 1960s and early 1970s, Portugal waged three colonial wars
simultaneously on the African continent. These campaigns hurt the
economy, drained morale, and gradually became politically unpopular. The
end of the wars in Africa brought independence to the colonies almost
immediately. The manner in which independence was granted, however, and
the results that were produced proved to be highly controversial.

In his unsettling book, Portugal and the Future, General António
de Spínola had proposed stopping the wars, finding a peaceful
resolution, and granting independence to the colonies. But he wanted to
maintain good relations with the colonies and to link them with Portugal
and possibly Brazil through a Portuguese-speaking Lusitanian
confederation of nations that would resemble the British Commonwealth.
This proposal was rejected by the radical and more impatient members of
the Armed Forces Movement (Movimento das Forças Armadas--MFA).

In Guinea-Bissau, after brief negotiations and a cease-fire, Portugal
granted independence to its former colony and turned power over to the
Marxist African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
(Partido Africano pela Independência de Guiné e Cabo Verde--PAIGC).
Cape Verde also became independent but did not become part of
Guinea-Bissau. In the much larger territory of Mozambique, Portugal
turned over the reins of government to the Front for the Liberation of
Mozambique (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique--FRELIMO), another
Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group. And in Angola, Portugal's most
valuable African colony, power was given to the similarly
Marxist-Leninist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola--MPLA) which, among the
three factions fighting for independence, was the only one allied with
the Soviet Union. The smaller colony of São Tomé and Príncipe also
became independent.

The haste with which independence was granted and the simple turning
of power over to the very Marxist-Leninist elements Portugal had been
fighting, without any further guarantees, had a number of serious
consequences. Hundreds of thousands of Portuguese settlers were
stranded, many of whom had lived in the colonies for generations. They
lost their homes, land, and positions. Most of them returned to
Portugal, where many lived in squalid conditions and added to the
country's unemployment problems. Their departure left the African
colonies without the teachers, educators, managers, and other trained
personnel needed to make a successful transition to independence.
Plagued by continuing civil wars and violence, political conditions and
living standards in the newly independent states deteriorated.

Portugal's relations with these former colonies long remained
strained, for they felt they had been abandoned by the mother country.
With time, however, relations improved, trade resumed, Portuguese
educators and technicians were welcomed back, and new ties among the
Portuguese-speaking nations began to be forged. Portugal served as a
useful intermediary in arranging agreements to reduce conflicts in
Angola and Mozambique. In 1984, for example, Portugal sponsored the
Nkomati Accords between Mozambique and South Africa by which the two
latter countries agreed to stop supporting guerrilla groups in each
other's territory. The three countries later agreed to manage the giant
Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power plant for the benefit of all. Although
Portugal would no longer play a large role in Africa, its special
relationship with the continent's Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking)
countries made it likely that it would play a role of some importance.